Police were acting on a tip when they went to the ranch and bought meat stored in an outdoor freezer filled with suspected horse meat, Detective Edna Hernandez, a Miami-Dade police spokeswoman, told The Miami Herald.

She said police suspect Chavez was killing his own horses and settling their meat for profit.

Police said they don't believe there is a link to the slaughter of nearly 20 horses in South Florida since January, which authorities have said they believe is linked to a black market demand for the meat.

Two Hialeah men were arrested last month for their alleged roles in the killing of two horses at separate Miami-Dade ranches. Charges against Saniago Cabrera, a 19-year-old from Hialeah, and Luis Miguel Cordero, 18, included animal cruelty and killing a registered breed horse.

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